University of Denver
Albany
Women's Basketball Stays Perfect With 88-57 Rout
11/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DENVER (Nov. 19) - The University of Denver women's basketball team, led by senior Michaela Pavlickova's (Prague, Czech Republic) career-high 31 points, ran its season record to 2-0 with an 88-57 rout of the University at Albany Nov. 19 at Magness Arena. Albany drops to 0-2 in its second season as a member of Division I.
The Pioneers began the game slowly, as Albany hung with them and actually held an 18-16 lead with 11:01 left in the first half. But it would prove to be the final lead the Danes would have, as Denver went on a 27-12 run to close the first half and head into the locker room with a 43-30 lead.
Denver pulled away at the start of the second half with a 13-2 run, giving the Pioneers a commanding 22-point lead (56-32) that they would never relinquish. The Pioneers increased the margin to 35 points with 3:06 remaining on a layup by Stacy Koralewski (Aurora, Colo.) and the Pioneers ended the game with a 31-point win, its largest margin of victory since a 85-52 win over Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 24, 2000.
Denver forced 31 Dane turnovers and recorded 19 steals, 11 of which came in the second half. The Pioneers shot .541 (20-of-37) in the second half and .487 (37-of-76) for the game.
"Our defense was very good tonight," head coach Pam Tanner said. "We forced 31 turnovers and had 19 steals and our defensive intensity was there. I thought our players responded very well to coaching in this game and that is a good sign this early in the season."
Pavlickova tied the 10th best single-game scoring mark in school history with her 31-point performance, also her career-high. Junior Melissa Garcia (Thornton, Colo.) added 16 points and newcomer Nikki Weddle (Denver, Colo.) chipped in 15 in her first home game as a member of the Pioneers.
The Pioneers are next in action, Saturday, Nov. 25 when they play in the Torenco Cancun de Basquetbol Tournament in Cancun, Mexico against Big Ten member Minnesota at 6:30 p.m.
